Decisions made recently by EU judges in effect tell minorities like Muslim women wearing headscarves and, by extrapolation, Jewish men wearing kippah and Sikhs wearing turbans, that if they wear such clothing and identify as a member of a religious group then they are not welcome in the workplace.

Businesses and public institutions will, presumably, still be serving Muslim, Jewish and Sikh citizens but with EU legislation backing discriminatory practices they will be allowed to refuse them employment; this is chillingly similar to the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws passed before WW2.

MWAE feel that we must challenge this ruling and any such discriminatory practices fuelled by racist and Islamophobic attitudes. Our work in our community proves time and time again that hatred and bigotry only serve to make our community weaker and dysfunctional but we are a better, healthier society the more diverse and welcoming we are.

We support UN Anti-Racism Day on 18th March and the protest against the National Front in Edinburgh on 25th March

MWAE spokesperson, Tasneem Ali

Note from SACC: MWAE is also supporting the screening of "Zone of Nonbeing" in Edinburgh on Sun 19 March (scroll down to the end of this email). It's an important chance to discuss the entrenched colonialist and racist attitudes that have led to torture and abuse at Guantanamo Bay and to decisions like the one taken by the European Court.